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14
Jan
Man avoids jail after vaping row outside Knaresborough Wetherspoons
A row over vaping in a Knaresborough pub led to scenes of utter chaos as a pregnant woman was dragged across the street and kicked in the head.
Sam Whiteley - whose vaping in a non-smoking area was the catalyst for the violence - flew into a rage outside the Crown Inn, the Wetherspoon’s pub on High Street where he was having a drink with his then fiancée, her sister and another named man before the “ugly” violence erupted, York Crown Court heard.
Whiteley, 29, who at the time was an employee at the Crown Inn, was off-duty on April 6 when the violence was sparked by his having a vape in the Old Royal Oak in Market Place earlier that evening.
Prosecutor Kelly Clarke said:
An argument broke out between them because the defendant was said to be vaping in a room where it was a non-smoking area.
The group moved on to the Crown Inn where the argument continued inside the pub and spilled onto the street where Whiteley dragged the two women to the ground.
His fiancée's sister was punched “numerous times, which caused only “very minor bruising”.
Another male witness, a friend of Whiteley’s, tried to intervene but was punched for his efforts to break up the fight.
The manager of Wetherspoon’s came outside after hearing a commotion and was asked by Whiteley’s partner “to get her keys from the defendant”.
Ms Clarke said:
(Whiteley) had gone back to his car and was sat in it, revving the engine.
The manager told Whiteley he was in no fit state to drive and to hand over his keys, but refused.
Ms Clarke added:
There was a lot of shouting coming from the defendant.
He then jumped out of the car and threw (the manager) to the floor and repeatedly punched her to the head. He then dragged her to the parking area and kicked her in the head.
The kick damaged the victim’s spectacles to the extent she had to get them replaced. She went back inside the pub and an ambulance was called.
She suffered head injuries including bruising and a “clear scuff mark”, or abrasion, around her neck and ear.
Whiteley, of Ainsty View, Whixley, was arrested but told police he had been drinking and had no recollection of events.
However, he ultimately admitted causing actual bodily harm to the pub manager and a separate charge of common assault. He appeared for sentence today.
Defence barrister Samuel Ponniah said Whiteley was “deeply remorseful” for the “ugly” violence.
Mr Ponniah added:
He has led a good, hard-working, law-abiding life up until this point.
He said that Whiteley was a single parent who was now living on benefits after losing his job at Wetherspoon’s and was receiving help for “significant” mental-health problems.
Judge Sean Morris told Whiteley he would “dearly like to lock you up for a very serious offence indeed”, but he had to consider his responsibilities as a single father.
This had persuaded him to suspend the inevitable jail sentence, but he told Whiteley that “you are the only defendant…in all my time on the bench, who has kicked somebody in the head and not gone away for it”.
He noted that Whitley’s behaviour was “wholly out of character” and that he was “ordinarily a thoroughly decent individual”.
The 12-month prison sentence was suspended for two years. Whiteley was ordered to complete up to 25 rehabilitation-activity days and an alcohol-abstinence programme.
The judge also made a five-year exclusion order banning Whiteley from entering The Crown, his former employer. Whitely was also made subject to a five-year restraining order banning him from contacting the two female victims.
We have amended this article after an earlier version incorrectly identified the victim.
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